Coco Gauff is the new World No. 4 in women’s singles, as the American moves up in the live WTA rankings after countrywoman and defending champion Amanda Anisimova was forced to retire from her opening-round match at the Doha Open due to an injury. Anisimova opened her title defense against Karolina Pliskova but retired trailing 7-5, 6-7, 1-4 due to apparent discomfort.
With this shock retirement, Gauff, who has yet to play her round 1 match of the event against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, moved up to fourth in the live WTA rankings, with a 500-point advantage over fellow American Jessica Pegula in fifth, as Anisimova dropped to sixth.
Both Gauff and Anisimova suffered shocking exits from the Australian Open in the quarterfinals. While Elina Svitolina hammered Gauff, Anisimova fought hard against Pegula in the second set but ultimately came up short, losing the match in straight sets.
With those results and Kazakh Elena Rybakina winning the Grand Slam title in Melbourne, Gauff dropped to fifth, Anisimova remained fourth, while Rybakina broke into the top 3. Now, with the first-round retirement, Anisimova will not have a chance to rise back up in the WTA rankings until the Indian Wells Open (WTA 1000), which starts on March 2.
Coco Gauff Will Attempt to Make the Most of Amanda Anisimova’s Early Retirement in the Doha Open
Last year, Gauff suffered a shock exit in the opening round of the Doha Open with a straight-sets loss against Marta Kostyuk. Now, the 21-year-old American will be aiming to redeem herself not only from the previous year’s shocker but also avenge her heartbreaking loss to Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Speaking to the media ahead of her Doha Open round 1 match against Cocciaretto, Gauff reflected on which aspects of her game she envisions improving, while admitting she had allowed Svitolina to settle in from the outset, which led to her downfall in Melbourne.
“Yeah, I think I want to try to be a bit more aggressive. I think in my last match, I was too passive and let Elina kind of take over. I want to be more aggressive here. I thought I did well in my previous matches at the Australian Open, but I think I lost it in that match,” Gauff said.
“So I think just wanting to capitalize on that. The goal is obviously to win, but the goal isn’t results right now. I think it’s just more about trying to play in the way I want to play for the next Grand Slam,” she added.
Gauff could have it easy in the first two rounds and potentially meet either Victoria Mboko or Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals before potentially lining up a mouthwatering clash against the reigning Australian champion in the semifinals of the Doha Open.
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